It’s so easy to lose your way. It might not even be anything big that causes it, maybe you just get caught up in life’s details – paying bills, managing responsibilities – and all you’re doing is keeping your head down and muddling through. You’re not living, you’re killing time.
Then one day you wake up and realize you’ve strayed way off course. Maybe you have one of St. John’s dark nights of the soul, and it’s devastating. You lie there in the black quiet, thinking about how meaningless your life feels, but the idea of getting back to some semblance of joy or passion or – gasp! – purpose seems long gone.
We’ve all been there, probably more than once, but here’s the thing: your dark night is an opportunity to reflect on where you’ve been, where you’re at, and where you want to go.
We talked about getting back to basics last week and that got me thinking about 2011’s Japanese tsunami. (Because, of course!)
I’ve written here about my experience with it, and today I found a video of that first wave of water hitting Japan, wiping out the coastline and everything on it.
Washed clean, ready or not, in six minutes.
It got me thinking about how sometimes you’re forced to make big changes – hello, natural disaster! – but other times you’ve got to motivate yourself.
If you’re feeling at all flat, or stuck, or less than inspired, I want you to do something. I want you to write down the big events or experiences, good and bad, of the last few years of your life. This is where you’ve been.
What stands out? Is there a theme? (For example, my peak experiences always involve travel.) Now dig a little deeper and think: when was the last time you felt excited or intensely curious, when you jumped out of bed in the morning to follow it, or it kept you up late into the night, creating, exploring, planning? Where was the heat, the energy for you?
Make a note of this, because those moments were nothing less than you pursuing your destiny.
Next, write down where you are now. It might not be all that inspiring, which is totally fine, but note if there’s anything you want to keep, anything that feels nourishing or interesting. Note them even if they’re tiny, because they’re signposts leading you back to your path.
Lastly, this: if you could do anything, what would it be? Don’t go into detail or try to plan it out, just write what your heart says. Maybe it includes something like those moments where you felt heat or energy, or those things in your life now that feel good.
Go nuts! I don’t care if it seems impossible or insane, write it down. This is where you want to go – and can. You can build it, bit by bit, every single day. (For inspiration, think about Grandma Moses, who didn’t pick up a paintbrush until she was 75. That “I’m too old” excuse doesn’t fly.)
If you’ve lost your way – or are just feeling blasé about how it’s going – you can start over, regardless of age or circumstance. That’s the beauty of being human. You get second, third, even twentieth chances. All you have to do is sit still and let yourself remember, reflect, and dream.
I want to live with passion and purpose, don’t you? If the tsunami wiped you clean, what would you do after?
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photo credit: Geraint Rowland Photography